‘If [Ryan Seacrest] said he wanted to do interview specials a la Barbara Walters, we would be interested’

The Television Critics Association Winter press tour is kicking off in Pasadena this week, and already there is an interesting TV news development. NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt was asked about Ryan Seacrest and “Today,” and although it doesn’t exactly fall under his purview, he had some interesting things to say on the matter.

Greenblatt said that retaining Matt Lauer is a priority for the network, and that speculation about his departure is “premature.” “It is our hope that Matt Lauer will stay on the show,” Greenblatt told reporters.

Regarding Ryan Seacrest, Greenblatt did not deny that he could have a role on NBC”s “Today,” noting that the company wanted to keep him in the NBC family (Seacrest has a production and hosting deal with E!, which is owned by NBCUniversal).

The NBC entertainment chief also said that Seacrest might have a place in primetime:

“If [Seacrest] said he wanted to do interview specials a la Barbara Walters, we would be interested,” Greenblatt said.